[Storiesmaniac]

"Whitney!" Becka opened the door to Whit and Kara's parent's home. "How lovely to see you."

"What are you doing here?" Whit exclaimed, giving her friend a hug.

"Surprise, surprise." Ash and Robin showed up behind Becka in the door.

"Oh my God," Kyle laughed. "There's more of them."

"And more." Kara looked over past those crowding the door. Visible were the heads of Shawn, Mike, Alex, and Ben. "What is all this?"

"Well you see," Becka started.

"Can we get inside first?" Kyle asked. "I can already feel the snow soaking my pants."

"Pretty boy, much?" Robin asked, stepping away from the door as the group entered.

"I'll pretty boy you." Kyle raised a gloved fist.

"Leather gloves?" Robin raised a brow. "Pretty boy!"

"Shut up." Kara rolled her eyes. "I've got a pair for you in the trunk."

"Italian leather?"

"What else?"

"Did I mention how nice your gloves are, Kyle? Really, wherever did you get them?" Robin admired falsely.

"So." Whit looked around. "What is all this?"

"Whitney!" Whit's mom called from the kitchen. "And Kyle!"

She ran out and gave the two hugs jumping with holiday spirit.

"Don't mind me," Kara shrugged. "I'm just the baggage."

"Now, Kara," her mother spoke to her, "don't sulk. Go help your father in the kitchen why don't you?"

"Oh goodie," Kara sighed and then headed further down the hall, following the sound of her father's deep voice performing a rather horrid rendition of "Winter Wonderland."

"So, Mom," Whit tried for the second time. "What's all this about?"

"Well," her mother ranted excitedly. She motioned for Whit and Kyle to take off their coats before she continued, and as she hung them in the front closet, she spoke. "It's a process that's been in the works for months really. Your father and I thought it would be lovely to have an at-home Christmas, and we thought it would be even more pleasant to have all your friends join us. Just like old times."

"Wow, Mom," Whit laughed. "That was really thoughtful."

"Yeah," Becka laughed. "How could we resist joining you when we got invitations to Christmas dinner in our mailboxes this July?"

Kyle just watched everything around him in a mild sensory overload.

"Are you okay, Kyle dear?" his mother in law asked him, rubbing his arm affectionately.

"Just fine." Kyle forced a smile. Sensory overload. He hadn't expected this. So much for the nice quiet at home Christmas with the in-laws he had anticipated. Why was he so upset? There was nothing bad about all this. It was great having the friends around; he loved them all. But still, something was gnawing at his gut. "Is that eggnog I smell?"

"Yes Kyle!" Whit's mom cackled happily. "In the kitchen, love."

"Thanks," Kyle nodded and set out on the path Kara had made. He came into the kitchen and the rabid smell of amazingly cooked food wafted through his nostrils. Mike and Shawn were standing in the corner of the room, discussing something that Kyle couldn't quite piece together, while Kara's dad continued singing Christmas carols to himself, though loud enough that the whole house could hear. Kara had already been employed, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, busy chopping an onion.

"You know." Kyle watched as Kara wiped a tear caused by the fumes of the onion away with her wrist. "I think that's the only time I've ever seen you cry."

"Oh be quiet." Kara flicked the knife with her wrist so that it made a relatively threatening gesture.

"And I don't much fancy the idea of you having a knife either." Kyle shook his head. "Where's the eggnog?"

"Looking for mild relief?" Kara laughed.

"I don't have to drown my sorrows in booze to feel better, Kara," Kyle defended.

"It's non-alcoholic," she said with a grin.

"Damn it." Kyle stamped his foot.

"Shh," Kara leaned back and whispered so that no one else in the kitchen except Kyle could hear her. "There's a bottle of Morgan under the presents in the trunk of the car."

"Good woman."

"Don't thank me so soon; I stole it from your bar."

"Wench!" Kyle laughed. Kara collected the diced onions and poured them into a boiling pot of something on the stove. "What is that?"

"Don't ask." Kara shook her head. "I find it tastes better if you don't know what's in it."

"I heard that," her father shouted from behind her. "For your information, it's French onion soup. Recipe that's been in the family for years."

"You're French?" Kyle raised a brow at Kara, who shook her head with a roll of her eyes.

"Dad's a bit of an epicure with an over active imagination," Whit said as she entered the kitchen. "By the way Kara, guess who's here."

"Huh?"

"KARA!" Selina ran, arms outspread wide. Kara looked at Whit with a huge glare and tensed as Selina wrapped her arms around her shoulders in an excited embraced. "It's been too long, my dear." Giving Kara kisses on each cheek in a very European format, Kara became stiffer than a rock.

"Hello, Selina," Kara greeted through gritted teeth. The prospect of her still having the knife in her hand was mildly comforting.

"Ahh," Sel laughed. "I haven't seen you in ages! I didn't think you were coming home this Christmas."

"We're as surprised as you are," Shawn smiled, staring at Selina's butt.

"Shawn Gibbons!" Selina tossed her head back with a laugh. "You're just as bad as Kara over there. Where have you been?"

"I live here, Selina. You're the one from out of town," Shawn laughed as he took a sip of eggnog.

"I suppose you're right, but hey, New York's not that far away." At this, everyone in the room exchanged gazes. It had never been apparently clear why Whit had ever befriended Selina. The two had incredibly little in common, but regardless they had been very close in high school. "Drinking buddies" may have been the better term, but no one liked to believe that pretty little Whit had ever been involved in such dubious activities as a kid.

"I'll be getting that thing you mentioned was in the car," Kyle said to Kara, attempting to be ambiguous.

"Hurry," she whispered back, shaking her head.

"So," Whit said, not quite sure what Kara and Kyle were up to but knowing it wasn't of wholesome origin. She changed the topic and began to talk with Sel. "What have you been up to, Selina?"

"Oh, you know. This and that," she shrugged happily. "Work in New York, live in L.A. and stop by this godforsaken town every time I go between the two."

There was another gaze shared between everyone in the room. Selina wasn't known for tact, and she was making it blatantly obvious.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Whit asked. "Was it Clayton...or Tom? I can't quite remember who you brought as a date to the wedding."

"I brought both to the wedding," Selina clarified with a hearty laugh. "But no, I'm not seeing either of the two."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Whit shook her head. "Did things just not work out?"

"You could say that," Selina laughed again.

"So," Mike interjected, his gaze matching the same resting spot as Shawn's for the majority of the conversation. "Where's your date for this extravaganza? No crowding horde of male followers?"

"Actually, I've become a lesbian."

Whit's father stopped singing Christmas Carols. There was stark silence, and several jaws dropped in shock. Everyone stared at Sel. And then there was the sound of something crashing and shattering in the hallway.

"The rum!" Kara exclaimed, grabbing a dishtowel off of the rack on the stove door and running out to the hall where Kyle had been completely stunned by Sel's outburst in the kitchen and had dropped the bottle in shock.